Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has called for reparations and an extensive environmental cleanup to counter the “decades of ecological devastation” caused by crude oil exploration in the region.
Governor Diri disclosed this to State House correspondents following a meeting with President Bola Tinubu, where Bayelsa’s political and traditional leaders expressed their gratitude for key federal appointments granted to the state, including the recent appointment of Mrs Didi Lawson-Jack as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Presenting the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission Report to President Tinubu, Diri outlined severe environmental and health crises affecting his state.
He pointed to extensive pollution in Bayelsa’s rivers and rural areas, saying oil activities have contaminated waterways, harmed ecosystems, and undermined local economies dependent on fishing and farming.
Diri linked a rise in cancer cases and other health issues in Bayelsa directly to oil pollution, urging federal intervention for environmental restoration akin to the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) currently underway in Ogoniland.
“Well, the report is there. If you are asking for recommendations, they are not just one. They are not two. What is more important is the issue of our environment. In that recommendation, they are talking about the clean-up, you know about the Ogoni situation, and HYPREP, and our environment is gone,” Diri stated.
“If you go into the rivers and the rooflets of Bayelsa state, you will perceive oil, and the economic activities of our people have been grounded, and up until today, you still have oil pollution all over the state.
“So the number one thing is, first of all, restore the environment, clean up the environment, and of course, you have to pay reparations, and those who have caused this damage, most times they say, Oh, it is a result of sabotage.
“But international law doesn’t recognise sabotage. You own those facilities and equipment; whether the oil spillages resulted from sabotage or ageing equipment, which is most often the case, equipment failures and reparations must be paid.”
Diri emphasised that oil companies bear responsibility for pollution, regardless of whether it resulted from equipment failure or acts of sabotage.
He stressed the human toll of pollution on Bayelsa’s communities, noting, “As I speak with you today, issues about cancer are now almost like a normal thing in Bayelsa state, and this report has traced it to the activities of the oil companies, oil exploration and all other types of very bizarre types of sicknesses that were not hitherto known to the people of Bayelsa.”
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